Kanye West Told Kendrick Lamar To Never Downplay His Ideas

Kendrick Lamar has been selective with interviews following his controversial GQ cover story, but the Grammy-nominated recently chopped it up with Hollywood Reporter‘s Jeff Weiss. During the sit down, the Compton-based rapper elaborated on the inspiration behind “Control,” why GKMC only featured Jay Rock, his Grammy nods, and much more. He discussed the advice Kanye once told him. ”Kanye taught me to never to downplay your ideas,” Kendrick said. “Those things that people called ‘rants’ on-stage are real conversations that we had behind closed doors — about business and how when you get to a certain level people won’t want to see you break through because they only see you as a rapper.”

The lyricist also broke down his creative process while gearing up for his next album. In K. Dot’s own words: “I got ideas, I haven’t really locked in the studio yet. Really challenge myself to do something better. I mean, of course you want to do better than your last. But creatively, I want to be in another space. That’s the challenge, if anything.”